


Lionhearted

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (I mean it - /really/ slow burn on that Sheith), Action/Adventure, Angst, Aromantic Asexual Pidge | Katie Holt, BAMF Pidge | Katie Holt, Badass Keith, Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Fluff, Humor, Magic and Science, Multi, PTSD, Post-S1, Slow Burn, So much angst, cactuar juice...it's the quenchiest, eventual space opera, lion motifs everywhere, time compression, time in general is a bit wonky, unstoppable snark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2016-09-13
Packaged: 2018-08-14 18:52:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8025130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: One of the occupational hazards of being on a team of robotic lion warriors is that sometimes, one of the pilots goes overboard with the heroics - and of course it's Shiro who sacrifices his freedom, giving Keith responsibility he never asked for. He returns the favor with a promise he'll do anything to keep - I'll find you again, I promise.Meanwhile, Hunk and Coran make the most of their stranded condition by helping the locals build up a resistance to the Galra, who are bound to show up soon. Pidge and Allura find - well, they're not sure what it is. Only that it's ancient, it's powerful, and it can help them find the others, who are too far off for the castle's systems to detect. That's because Keith and Lance are lucky enough to get stuck on the only planet that's successfully hiding from Zarkon - through magic no known force can overcome, which Keith wants to use to their (much needed) advantage. Lance is just grateful they have hot dogs.If they play their cards just right, Keith and Pidge can save the people they care about most and get Team Voltron back together before it's too late. If they can't...well, there's only so much damage Haggar can do before Shiro's beyond saving.





	Lionhearted

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimers: Shiro's 21-22 at the beginning of this, Pidge is 15, everyone else is 18-19, and I'm using she/her pronouns for Pidge. If you recognize the minor characters, _I love you_. If you don't, that's okay too - they're just there to flesh out the world so I have more than a dozen characters to work with. Because the universe is _big_ , guys.

Keith pounded on the controls, dread and adrenaline fogging his mind.  “Guys, what the _hell_ is going on?!” he shouted, hoping somehow he had gotten the comms system back online.  All he could see was the blue of the portal turning to a dark purple, and the dangerous tilt of the castle as it struggled to maintain its course.

“Red, come on!” he said, gripping the console in frustration when it became clear nobody had heard him.  “Shiro!  Lance!  Hunk!  _Anybody!_ ”

Something was seriously wrong, and Keith sat helpless in the pilot’s seat as everything fell apart, ruining the safe retreat they’d fought so hard to ensure.  The purple became interlaced with a pitch black, a sharp thing that sent shivers down Keith’s spine, and he couldn’t even begin to wonder what would happen to all of them once they flew through it.

He didn’t have time to think it over, Red veering dangerously close to the side of the wormhole.  Keith did everything he could to steer away, but it was no use – the gravity was too strong, and hitting it triggered a searing pain in his head.  He let himself pass out, not that he had much choice, carried by the black wind through the portal and on to whatever lie beyond.

_It happened again – the tense silence, followed by the distress and confusion Keith had learned could only mean one thing.  “Shiro, are you okay?” he asked, the question second-nature._

_Keith could tell Shiro was trying to downplay the problem, that he was probably attributing whatever went wrong to his own human error, and – most importantly – that the physical separation between Shiro and the others would only make it worse.  “Something is overriding the controls!  My lion is not responding!”_

_That was bad, even accounting for the general shittiness of their situation.  The beginnings of another pained scream from Shiro made it over the comms before they cut out, and Keith ignored the desperate sensation of his heart pounding against his ribcage.  Sure, patience and focus were important – but Team Voltron was in way over their heads, and the only thing that would help them now was acting on instinct.  “Shiro’s in trouble!  I’m going in!” Keith said, piloting Red towards the black lion._

_There was some more talk over the comms – some Captain Obvious statement from Hunk, and some information about Allura’s location.  Keith wasn’t paying attention.  He was keeping both eyes on Shiro, who was damn lucky that his helmet was still fully functional when Black ejected him.  Keith didn’t want – he couldn’t imagine a future for the team without Shiro in it, or having to go back to Earth one day and explain to Shiro’s parents that no, he hadn’t died on the Kerberos mission, it had been what came after, and because his friends couldn’t keep their priorities straight, the lord of the known universe was going to enslave the planet._

_Who would even lead them, if things kept going south?  Allura was a guiding light, to be sure, but she wasn’t a unifying, magnetic force the way Shiro was.  Not to mention how overbearing she could be at times.  Coran was too…Coran.  Pidge was a backseat driver, and way too inexperienced besides.  Hunk was too soft, too trusting.  Lance was laughable.  And Keith – he couldn’t bring people together like Shiro could, he couldn’t be calm and rational, he wasn’t inspirational, he wasn’t…a lot of things.  No, the team would just be fighting over every damn decision, the weight of every lost soul against every planet in danger—_

_“My jetpack’s damaged.  I’ll need to go through the ship,” Shiro said, somehow managing to get his comms back on, if for only a moment.  It cut through the barrier of Keith’s panicked thoughts, and he felt his palms sweating through his suit.  Shiro on a Galra ship by himself sounded like the worst idea since Keith’s last haircut, but there wasn’t any way he could join him inside without surrendering both of their lions to the enemy._

_“Damn it, Shiro,” Keith said under his breath, quiet enough so the others wouldn’t hear.  He closed his eyes for a moment and forced his heartbeat to slow, listening to Red and making sure they had come to the same decision.  “…You guys get the princess without me.”_

_“What?  We’ve got to stick together!  What are you doing?!”  Ordinarily, Lance’s shock and outrage would have grated his nerves, but Keith conceded that his friend was right, it was shitty of him to change the plans on the fly, but…_

_The reasons would have taken too long to say – there were a thousand of them, half beyond words, and the other half a mix of Shiro’s need for protection and Keith’s own selfish desire to prove himself.  And time was a luxury he definitely didn’t have.  “Whatever I can,” he ended up saying, the feeling of grim determination hardening his heart.  Lance and the others could find Allura on their own – Keith just had to make sure Shiro had a chance of making it out alive._

Keith could feel the dream wearing thin, but he held onto it with all his might.  He’d rather deal with monsters he knew than monsters he didn’t, and there was a whole universe of them waiting for him to open his eyes.

The sight of Zarkon, suited up with black bayard in hand, was something Keith would remember for the rest of his life.  The man – alien – ghost – thing, or whatever he was, was a force beyond belief.  Like a villain from one of the comics Keith used to read in his pre-Garrison days, except fully real and beyond terrifying.

_“This is my chance to put an end to the Galra Empire!  I have to take it!”  A foolish statement, and they all knew it.  Keith couldn’t hope to defeat Zarkon now – but he could buy Shiro some time to escape, and that was more important than his own safety by far._

_“Keith, don’t!” Coran said, for once the voice of reason to Keith’s impulsive actions._

_Zarkon’s voice cut through the action, hitting Keith like a well-deserved slap to the face.  “You may have a lion, but its power is weak in your fledgling hands.”_

The battle had been the most rigorous test yet of Keith’s abilities – Zarkon had barely even toyed with him, giving him the chance to fire and then absorbing the power like some sort of god.  Red gave everything he got and more, fueled by Keith’s anger, his desperation, but it wasn’t enough.  Zarkon was virtually invincible, he would win, and the worst part was that he already seemed to know Keith’s fighting style – strike fast and hard; refusing to stop until there was no other choice.  Success or death – he’d heard Sendak mention that once, on some happier day.

_“You fight like a Galra soldier!” Zarkon yelled, his voice…appraising, somehow, even as murder lit his eyes.  Keith was rattled – he wasn’t one of them, he didn’t act like them, he didn’t fight like them – sure, there might have been some similarities, but he was himself.  Temperamental, snarky, independent Keith.  Zarkon charged up another attack, cold grin spreading across his face.  “But not for long!”_

_If Zarkon had been aiming to catch him off his guard, he’d done a damn good job of it – Keith barely avoided getting Red blasted apart, and his focus was slipping.  Patience yields focus, patience yields focus…no, screw that, he couldn’t be patient now, not when a second wasted thinking was another twelve chances of dying and getting Shiro killed as well.  They had to make it out of this.  “Come on, come on!”_

_Keith braced himself for the cold embrace of a death in space, or at least for the worst pain he might ever feel in his life, but Zarkon’s scream cut through the…not-air, and Red shook with the impact of something big.  Something familiar._

_“I got you, buddy!” Shiro said, and Keith’s body relaxed more than he’d ever willingly admit.  He let Black carry Red towards the others, having done everything he could – they’d be fine._

Keith felt himself coming to, and resentment rose in his chest, a familiar mix of anger and hopelessness that had carved his path in life.  He’d spoken too soon, they all had – shit hit the fan pretty much immediately, and Keith had sat in silent panic, assuming everyone else was strategizing, or at least saying their goodbyes.  Maybe their final goodbyes.

But, as the last traces of fog in his mind dissipated, it occurred to Keith that he was alive.  Somewhere, somehow, the wormhole hadn’t killed him – just spit him out to drift somewhere in the vastness of the universe.

It wasn’t a surprise that the only thing in front of him when he opened his eyes was empty space, and the dark surface of Red’s sleeping dashboard – Keith would have been either extremely lucky or extremely unlucky to pop out near a planet.  _At least now I have a few moments to think before…_

_Wait, what am I supposed to do now?_

For starters, he’d have to find a safe place to land.  With a badly damaged ship and a probably shell-shocked mind, Keith couldn’t just drift in space forever.

He tried to get some forward motion going, but the lion wasn’t responding.  “Red.  Red?” he said, tapping at the controls.  “Look, I know I kind of put us both in danger back there, but I—”

It was useless.  Nothing, there was nothing, Red wasn’t listening and he knew it.  “…We would’ve lost Shiro if I hadn’t done it,” Keith said, closing his eyes.  “I still – we still don’t know what happened to him on that Galra ship, right?  That one or the first one.  And whatever it was...”  _I’m…really not the person to help him through that.  But…do I want to be?  It’s all too confusing…_

Half the console lit back up, and Keith nearly jumped out of his seat.  There was a long static, but thanks to his stupid, impulsive actions earlier, the comms were probably out for good.  At least until Pidge could get to them.  Which, now that he could literally be the entire length of the universe away from her, might never happen.  “God, why am I so _stupid_?” he groaned, shoving his forehead into his palm.

The static abruptly cut out, and Keith looked back up as he heard footsteps, rummaging for his bayard.  _Crap, shit, quiznak, I’m not ready for another fight—_

“Whoa, it’s okay, Keith – it’s just me.”

Keith let his bayard fall to the floor.  “Shiro.”

The paladin in question took off his helmet and brushed the tops of Keith’s hands with his own, the gesture questioning.  “You’re wearing two pairs of gloves?”

“…For luck,” Keith said, tightening the straps again and turning around.  _They’ve always been a bit too loose…_ “We definitely needed it.”

“Yeah, um…thanks,” Shiro said, looking at the gloves with a strange look in his eyes.  “For looking out for me back there.  Without you holding off Zarkon…I don’t know if the others could have found me in time.”

Keith resisted the urge to lurch forward, to raise a thousand questions neither of them could answer, and took a deep breath, hoping Shiro would attribute his flighty behavior to their immediate situation and not to…anything else.  “Someone had to,” he said.  _Everyone acts like you’re somehow the strongest out of all of us…and you are, but…so much has changed and you don’t even see it.  Or maybe you do, but you don’t think it matters anymore, and…wow, I’m being really pathetic about this._

“…Are you okay?” Shiro asked.  “Keith?”

“I’m fine,” he said, shaking of the mental image of days gone by.  “But you – are _you_ okay?  What happened to you?”

“It’s…” Shiro looked away, brushing back his white shock of bangs.  “I…don’t know.”

Keith frowned.  “You’re not a very good liar, Shiro.”

A long moment passed, and Keith waited patiently, crossing his arms in an imitation of his friend.  “…There’s a part of me that I don’t understand,” Shiro finally admitted, turning his head to the left – away from the Galra prosthetic.  “While I was gone…they…they _changed_ something, not just the arm, and I can’t…I can’t figure out what.”

 _Well, I can’t argue with that…he’s right, even if that’s not what he wants to hear._ “Shiro…” he said, starting to reach out before pulling back.  _No…that won’t help._

“To tell the truth…I’m a little afraid of myself,” Shiro said with more than a touch of bitterness, turning the Galra wrist over and glaring at the fingers.  “I have no idea how this thing works.  And…the Galra, they keep saying…”

“…Saying…what?”

“…It doesn’t matter,” Shiro finished, straightening up, and Keith knew he’d lost his chance to find out, to put a dent in his friend’s suffering.  This time, at least.  “What’s important now is finding somewhere safe to land, and hoping Allura can pick us up soon.”

“…We could be anywhere,” Keith said, gesturing out to the void past the dashboard.  “I don’t think we can count on that happening anytime soon.”

“Then we’ll just focus on the first part, then,” Shiro said, the _patience_ spiel going unsaid.  “Do you think Red can fly on his own?”

Keith took one look at the console and shook his head.  “Not yet,” he said.  “Maybe you noticed - we took a bit of a beating back there.”

Shiro let out an almost-laugh, a puff of breath that he used as a placeholder for actual amusement.  _You never let yourself laugh anymore._ “You did good – seriously, holding off Zarkon like that, by yourself?  I’m—”

A loud shudder reverberated through the lion, and Shiro lurched forward, gripping Keith’s shoulders for support.  Keith moved with the impact, eyes widening when he saw what was coming – another Galra ship, not as big as Zarkon’s base but still a major threat with only two half-functional lions.  “Oh no.”

“Oh wha – you’ve got to be kidding me, already?!” Shiro said, straightening up.  “Just hang tight – I’ll get us out of here!”

“Roger!” Keith said, getting the controls online as best he could.  Maybe the comms couldn’t be fixed just yet, but hopefully he could at least get Red ready to fly.

There was a small nudge in his mind, and Keith let the mental door open, grateful that he wouldn’t have to worry about his lion being completely out of commission.  “Welcome back, Red,” he said.  “Nice nap?”

Red roared in response, and Keith smirked, confirming with the press of a few buttons that he was really back in action, at least with basic flight capabilities.  “Shiro, can you hear me?”

“You’re back online?  Nice!”

“Come on, let’s go!” Keith said, getting his focus back.  “We don’t have time to mess around with these guys!”

“You got it,” Shiro said, pulling out in front of him.  The Galra ship paused, sizing them up, and Keith braced himself for another battle.  _We got this._

It took about two seconds for Keith to realize that they actually didn’t have this, and that it wasn’t going to end well.

The ship shot some sort of beam cannon right at Shiro, faster than anything Keith had seen before, and it looked like it almost blew off the lion’s left arm, sending him into a tailspin that would make Hunk hurl.  Keith went in, ignoring how stiff the controls were and how slow Red’s response time still was.  “Shiro, I’ve got you!”

A few seconds passed with no response.  “Aah – Keith – get out of here!”

Keith didn’t even dignify that with an answer, positioning Red in front of Black to give Shiro time to gather his wits again.  “Stop playing the hero and let me help you!”

“No – you don’t understand –!”  The comms went to static again, and Keith growled, doing everything he could to get them back up without getting blasted apart by whatever new insane weapon the Galra had cooked up, and _shouldn’t it have taken longer for them to upgrade anyway?  …Whatever, I need to focus._

The comms lit up purple, and Keith scooted back in his seat, taking his hands off the controls like they would burn his hands.  _Hoo boy…_   “Cease fire immediately,” a voice said, low and distinctly Galran, and Keith felt a growing knot in his stomach.

 _I can’t do anything without more backup..._ There was a commotion over the line, and a new voice laughed, the sound of it making Keith sick to his stomach.  “Yes, boy, cease fire or you’ll both be taken,” it said.  “Hmm…do you happen to know which ship this is?”

Keith kept his mouth shut in defiance, hoping for a second chance to get them both out of there without further trouble.  _Maybe if I just ignore him long enough…_

“Not talking, eh?  Doesn’t matter.  This is the laboratory of Thojor, chief assistant to Haggar.  Surrender the lions now and I might let you live – with some other conditions of mine, hee hee.”

“Keith – get – out of here – _now_!” Shiro shouted, on the same line, and Keith’s heart sunk to his feet.  If they had boarded the black lion, then…

He found himself frozen, for once in his life unable to make a snap judgment.  Keith very much wanted to get out of there alive, to be able to reunite with the other paladins and save the universe like he’d promised, but he’d never be able to live with himself if he left Shiro there to…die, probably.  _What am I thinking?  There’s only one choice I can make._ “No!” he said.  “I’m not leaving you behind!”

“Just as well.  Two specimens are better than one,” Thojor said cheerfully.  “I’ll send—”

There was a loud thud and a snap, followed by Shiro’s labored breathing.  “Keith…I think I knocked him out, but I’m going to…aah…I’m gonna hand myself over,” he said, sounding far less terrified of the prospect of going back than he probably should be.  “They commandeered my lion, so…get out of here while you still can!”

“Are you crazy?!  I’m picking you up!” Keith said, steering over to the damaged lion.  _He’s gonna get himself hurt again, the heroic bastard._

“No!  Leaving the black lion behind is _not_ an option!” Shiro said.  “We might never get it back, and then how will we form Voltron?”

 _I can’t…focus on one thing at a time, Keith._ “Just think about this.  How is you getting captured again gonna make taking the black lion back any easier?  And…what if you don’t come back this time?  Shiro…” Keith asked, clenching his fists.  _I can’t believe I’m being the thoughtful one right now._ “You don’t have to spend the rest of your life like…with them, I mean.”

There was a moment of silence before Keith saw the Galra ship charging its light beam up again, and he knew he had already stayed too long.  Shiro didn’t respond, his silence saying more than any words could at this point.

“I can’t believe you’re seriously considering this,” Keith continued.  “It’s insane!  I can’t just fly off while you…while you march off to…”

“…To my death?” Shiro finished, so quiet Keith could barely hear it.  “The crew on that ship hasn’t heard a response from Thojor in too long…don’t you get it?  That laser’s pointed right at you!  Keith, I don’t think I could…you have to live, damn it!  Get out of here!”

“It doesn’t matter what happens to me – I’m _not_ losing you again!” Keith said, putting the words out there as best he could.  Sure, he’d left out some things – the long-simmering tangle of feelings, the half-formed thanks for everything Shiro had done…but that was the crux of it.  He just couldn’t lose him again.

“…What?”

Keith realized from the tone of Shiro’s voice that his half-confession might have made things worse instead of better, and the distraction ate up his remaining time – the Galra’s beam hit Red head-on somewhere below the cockpit, and Keith felt the lion spiraling out of control.  _Fried quiznak, I fucked this one up._ “Shiro, I’ve lost control again!”  _I’m so sorry…_

The one good thing about the situation might have been that Keith was spinning very rapidly _away_ from the Galrans, giving him a chance of survival, tiny as it was, but…that also meant Shiro was on his own again.  Maybe forever.  And it felt like a knife to the heart, the emotions curdling in Keith’s chest as he fought back tears.  _No…this can’t be it!  It can’t be – there has to be something else I can do!_

“Be…be safe, and be great,” Shiro said, his voice wavering in and out as he got closer to being out of range.  “I’ll…ha, I’ll miss you.  Even more than last time.”

 _Goddammit._ “I’ll find you again!” Keith said.  “I promise!”

“I’m looking forward to it.  But…Keith, if I don’t make it out of here…I want you to lead Voltron.”

Keith didn’t process the last bit until it was too late, the Galra ship out of view and the black lion out of range.  “What?!  That’s – that’s crazy!  I can’t lead Voltron, that’s…your job…” he said to nobody, closing his eyes to hold back the tears.  _I won’t cry…I didn’t before, and I won’t now.  I have to be strong.  But I can’t…I can’t lead us…_

“…Just stay alive…and come back in one piece this time, okay?” Keith said, leaning forward and choking back the lump in his throat.  _I’m…a hot mess, that’s what I am._

Keith sat like that for several hellish minutes, trying to wrangle his anguished thoughts long enough to come up with a plan.  No controls, no communications, no planet in sight.  The Galran running that ship – Thojor, or whatever his name was – was probably already gaining on him.  Great.

“I’m really in it now, aren’t I?” he said aloud, opening his eyes to see a rapidly approaching sun.  Even better.  _Come on, come on…there has to be a way out of this.  I’ll…get Red working, find a planet.  There’s got to be one near here…somewhere.  I’ll get repairs, and then…I’ll bust Shiro out before those bastards can do anything else to him.  And then I’ll…I’ll…_

He shook his head, shoving down the unwelcome feelings.  _No.  I’m a defender of the universe now, there won’t be a good time for that.  Not until the end, and by then…it probably won’t even matter.  Best not to think about it._

The distant stars seemed to waver in front of him, a distortion Keith had never seen before.  He didn’t bother messing with the stick again – it’s not like he had any better plan at this point.  Might as well fly through the weird space barrier.

_Even if I did say something…what would I say?  I can’t…I’m not…it’d be hilarious, that’s what it’d be.  Unfriendly, introverted Keith having to express his feelings.  Yikes.  I can feel myself getting roasted all the way out here._

Going through the distortion felt like being swallowed up, and Keith forced himself to watch the emptiness of space seem to melt all around him, straightening out as he came out on the other side.  _Well…whatever that was, I hope it didn’t make my ship issues worse._

It certainly didn’t seem to make them any better, and Keith took off his gloves to fiddle with while Red floated aimlessly through space.  He counted the tiny nicks in the fabric, each one telling its own story, a record of the past left behind on Earth.  _Some of the older ones faded…or maybe I was just imagining them the whole time._

_Maybe I was just imagining a lot of things._

The bright light of the approaching sun distracted Keith from his moping, and he looked away, slamming his hands on the console when he caught sight of a planet that looked an awful lot like Earth.

 _Could that…could that really be home?  Not that I have anything to go back to other than the shack, but…yeah, I’d rather it not be Earth, actually.  Some other planet with food and a good mechanic would be nice._ There wasn’t anything Keith could do but hope he drifted into its orbit – and drift he did, Red’s trajectory moving away from the star and towards the blue world.

Two things became very clear as Keith got closer to the planet.  One, that it wasn’t Earth – the continents were all wrong, and there was a cloud of debris from some explosion filling the upper atmosphere that they didn’t have back home.

Second – he was gonna crash.  Hard.

Keith was put in mind of that drill they’d done not long after everything started, the one where they had to keep the lions from crashing into the ground through their bonds, and he frantically tried to reconnect with Red.

“Yo, Red, it’s me!  Keith!  Your _paladin_!  There’s this thing called _the ground_ that’s right there, and I’d rather not have it kill me!”

No response.

“Come on, Red, we have so much to live for!”

There wasn’t anything quite like the prospect of imminent death to bring a guy out of a funk, and Keith spent his last few moments wondering what the hell the locals would think of the dead robot lion and the random guy inside, and laughing at the idea of being this planet’s Roswell.

But damn, hitting the ground _hurt_ , and while Keith wasn’t sure if the concussion would kill him, he _was_ sure that if he lived, he’d have a headache for the record books.

 

\---------------------------------

 

Keith’s dreams were full of clouds this time, of hot smoke, shadows and screaming, and the feeling of desperation.  He hoped it wasn’t real.  He hoped it wasn’t some sort of indication of what Shiro was going through, or any of the others for that matter.  He felt his heart rate go up, and a throbbing headache that was at least meant he was still alive.

He could tell even through the haze of sleep that his forehead was badly injured, and he groaned, attempting to open his eyes and startling when he realized he couldn’t, something was keeping his eyes forced shut, and—

“Dr. Kadowaki, can you get a cool cloth for him?” someone asked, voice feminine and professional.  “No sense in letting that wound get any worse.”

“My…forehead…hurts…” Keith stammered out, struggling to get his lips to move.  _What did they…did they drug me?_

“The magic’s wearing off, Xu – you should leave and grab…gosh, I forgot his name again,” another woman said, presumably the doctor.  “Franz?  Pants?  I just hope this head injury doesn’t have too many lasting effects…especially since there are so many questions about this situation.  We’ve made it thirteen years without any incidents…and I don’t think anyone here wants to get involved with another war.  Especially not one that’s…out there.”

The other woman took a deep breath.  “I just hope we still have a choice.  It’s funny…I’ll be honest, it’ll be something if that leaves a scar – it’s almost in the same spot as—”

“I know.  But he’s going to wake up soon, and I’d rather there be someone with some of the answers here to help facilitate…I hate the word ‘questioning,’ it’s so harsh.”

“I understand, Dr. Kadowaki,” the first woman said, the fading sound of her footsteps making Keith’s ears ring.  _Damn, that crash must have really done a number on me…_

Keith let out a strangled sigh when a cool washcloth touched his forehead, and he heard the doctor tsk as she pushed his bangs back.  “If it’s any comfort, you’re far from the first person to wind up in here with a head injury, bad as yours is.  But you’re only the second one to fall from outer space.”

“…Where…am I?” Keith asked, frustrated at himself for being so disoriented.

“You’re in an infirmary, and you’re going to be just fine,” the doctor said, and Keith bristled at having his question so quickly brushed off.  “Whatever got you and the other kid stuck here can’t follow, I promise.”

A louder, heavier set of footsteps entered the infirmary, and there was an amused snort.  “I don’t think that’s the answer he was looking for, Dr. Kadowaki,” a man said, voice full of amusement.  “You’re in Garden.  It’ll all come back to you soon.”

 _That…is immensely unhelpful.  What the hell is Garden?_ “Oh – welcome back!” Kadowaki said, walking away from where Keith was lying down, and he felt a little miffed at being upstaged by a guy who wasn’t making sense.  “You were gone to visit her, right?  How’s she doing?”

“She’s getting…really excited,” the man said.  “But tired, too – keeping up the barrier is a hard enough task on its own.  I wish I could shoulder some of that burden, but…well, you know.”

“Rinoa’s a strong woman, she’ll come out of it just fine.  And you?” Kadowaki said.  “How do you feel about all this?”

“I…you know we didn’t plan this,” the man said.  “It’s just…I don’t think I’m ready for the responsibility.”

“No one ever is,” Kadowaki said knowingly.  “But I know you’ll be great, if history has any say in it.  Now shoo – I have a patient to take care of.”

“I noticed…who is he?  I don’t recognize him,” the man said, and Keith stiffened.  _Is this…no, no Galra would ever call a place “Garden.”  But…_

“…A new student,” Kadowaki said plainly, clearly leaving the man to interpret that statement on his own.

There was a moment of silence, and Keith could practically hear the gears turning in the man’s head.  “Hold on a second…”  _Wait, they use seconds here?_

“We couldn’t just leave the pilots there to die,” Kadowaki said.  _Pilots?  Who else was there…?_ “Regardless of where they came from – they’re just kids, and if the other one is anything to go by, they’re harmless.”

 _Harmless?  I just fought the lord of the known universe and lived, damn it, I’m not harmless!_ “Sure, but they’re kids that managed to pass the barrier,” the man said lowly.  _Yeah, that’s right!  Not harmless._   “I don’t think it’s a good idea, but…hell, but there’s nothing else we _can_ do, is there?  I saw the wreckage of that ship…”

“I’ll send them both to your office as soon as this one’s up for it, and you can tell them whatever you deem safe,” Kadowaki said.  “…Headmaster.”

 _…Headmaster?_ “Ugh, I can’t stand that title,” the man said.  “I’m just filling in for Cid, there’s no reason for everyone to keep calling me that.”

“You’re ‘just filling in’ permanently – that more or less makes you the headmaster, frightening as that is.  Would you rather be called Commander again?  Sorceress’s knight?  Card King?” Kadowaki said.  “I could keep going.”  _Dr. Kadowaki is a roast master.  Awesome._

“…Whatever,” the man said, and Keith couldn’t suppress a snicker.  “Your patient seems fine now, by the way,” he continued, walking away.  _And headmaster-knight can roast right back._

“Don’t feel bad, we’ve all laughed at him at some point – he makes it too easy,” Kadowaki said, replacing the washcloth.  “You should be able to open your eyes now.  How are you feeling?”

Keith rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and opened them, taking in…a very average-looking infirmary.  Hospital bed, white coats, desk with papers in the corner.  The doctor herself was a plain-looking woman, which in itself was a bit of a shock – Keith had been expecting more, well…alien-looking aliens.  “My forehead hurts,” he said again.

“As it should,” the doctor said, grabbing a glass and filling it with a clear liquid.  “You cut it pretty bad on something in your…lion-ship.  Here, drink this.”

“Is it safe?” Keith asked, cringing when he realized how ungrateful that must have sounded.  “You know, for me?”

Kadowaki nodded with an amused chuckle.  “Someone else in a similar ship crash-landed this morning, and he’s fine.  It’s just water.”

 _Franz…Pants…_ “Lance?”

The doctor snapped her fingers, nodding.  “Yes…that’s what his name was.  Lance.”

A door opened somewhere out of sight on Keith’s left.  _Speak of the quiznak…_   “I heard my name?  What’s up, doc – oh, Keith, you’re up!  Check this out, they’ve got _hot dogs_ here!  Like, actual hot dogs, that aren’t made of green space goo.  I don’t know about you, but I think we might’ve found the best planet to crash into.”

Keith had already filled his emotional quota for the day, so he settled for weariness, sitting up and holding the damp cloth in place with a still-gloved hand.  “What the hell happened, Lance?”

Lance deflated a bit, swallowing the bite of hot dog he’d been chewing.  “Um…to _you?_ I don’t know,” he said, setting the half-eaten hot dog on the desk.  “As for me, I kind of spun out of that portal thing, and ended up…well, I wasn’t even in space when I came out.”

“You barely avoided destroying Fisherman’s Horizon,” Kadowaki said, shaking her head.  “As it is, it’ll be a challenge to get back into their good graces – they don’t appreciate strange ships crashing into them, _especially_ not warships.”

“It’s not my fault!” Lance said, straightening up.  “That weird wave-y thing totally fried my controls, I could barely even get the doors open before _drowning in the ocean_.”

“Yeah, well a Galra ship fried _my_ controls,” Keith countered.  “With a light beam.  Of terror.”

“I think it was His Holiness, supreme Quiznak, who granted us with the gift of blue oceans and hot dogs,” Lance said, ignoring Keith’s statement.  “Seriously, these are _good._ ”

“Where’s Xu?” Kadowaki asked.  “She was supposed to escort you here.”

“Oh, she ran into some cute blonde and abandoned me,” Lance said with a sigh.  “Can’t blame her for that – I’d totally do the same.  Except I was thinking I would repay Keith for that time he ‘cradled me—‘”

“Don’t,” Keith said, derailing that train of thought.  “Doctor, what all was found in my ship?”

“Mmm, not much,” she said.  “Just a red…I’m assuming it was a weapon, and a jacket.  We put them both in safekeeping.”

“I need them,” Keith said.“Both of them – the jacket and the bayard.”

“You’ll have to talk to the headmaster to get them back,” Kadowaki said.  “We’re not taken any risks with alien weaponry – I’m sure you understand.”

“They nicked my stuff, too, if it makes you feel any better,” Lance said, stretching his arms as Keith stood up, pulse throbbing in his temples.  _Ugh, my head…_

“Be careful with that injury.   If you exert yourself too much, I guarantee you it’ll scar,” Kadowaki said, grabbing some tape to hold the cloth in place.  “Baby steps.”

“I don’t care if it scars,” Keith said, wincing at the pain.  _Shiro has scars._

“…I almost want to be a fly on the wall when you speak with the headmaster,” Kadowaki said, glint in her eye.  “Shame I’ve got work to do.  Well, off with the both of you!  The elevator is at the front of the concourse, just go up two floors and his office is right there – watch the draft, though.”

 _Watch the draft?_ “Thanks!” Lance said, waiting at the door for Keith to follow.

“You sure settled in quickly,” Keith said, itching to get out of his paladin armor.  “Bet all this feels like a vacation to you.”

“You’re right, it kind of does,” Lance said, taking a second before stopping in his tracks.  “Wait, you think it’s a _bad_ thing we get to take a quick break?”

“It is when Shiro’s in danger and we have _no idea_ where anyone else ended up,” Keith said, closing his eyes.  “What if they all _die,_ Lance?  Then what the hell are we supposed to do?”

“Uh…whoa there, buddy, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Lance said, leaning over the corridor’s railing.  “Shiro’s in danger?!  What happened to him?!”

The all-too-familiar sound of an announcement tone rang through the hall, and there was a brief tapping.  “Lance and…Keith?  To the headmaster’s office.  As soon as possible.”

“That’s the guy who was talking to the doctor,” Keith said under his breath.  “The one with all the weird titles.”

“What other weird titles does he have?  I mean, I kind of figured this place was a military academy of some sort,” Lance said, looking around.  “The uniforms, the structure…it’s _way_ nicer than the Garrison, though.  Like, there’s this fountain thing that goes all around the concourse, and plants are everywhere, and it almost looks like a regular boarding school or something—what?”

“I’m just…”  _Depressed?  Frustrated?  I don’t want to sort through it…thinking isn’t going to change anything._

“…We can talk about it later,” Lance said, urging Keith forward.  “For now, I guess we gotta make sure this headmaster dude doesn’t want our heads on a platter for crashing here.”

 _He seemed…reasonable,_ Keith thought, thinking it over as Lance led him through the concourse, and some of the students milling around took an eyeful of the red-and-white armor.  _He said there was nothing else they could do…other than take us in?  If nothing else, Lance is right – this looks like a normal place._

_But then…how are they managing to hide from Zarkon?  This isn’t very far from Thojor’s ship, and that barrier thing…I guess these are questions for this headmaster-commander-knight-king._

“Yo.  Keith.”

“…Yes?”

“Relax,” Lance said, his attempts at neutralizing Keith’s mood appreciated, even if they weren’t working.  “Shiro took care of himself for a _year_ before – I think he can handle a few days on his own.”

“…Whatever you say,” Keith said, stopping as the elevator came into view.  _But that year did so much damage…and what if it takes longer than a few days?  What if Thojor moves the ship, or he moves Shiro somewhere we can’t get to him?_

Lance pressed the buttons inside the elevator, whistling as it took them up, past a mostly-open second floor and onto the third.  Keith took in the formal look of the waiting room and was forcibly reminded of the day he was booted from the Garrison.  Hopefully this meeting would end on a better note.

And then they could get out of here, and back out into the universe.

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, I never realized how much I rely on having a complete canon for characterization until I tried to write this - holy macaroni, I had to pull so much of it out of nowhere. So much. _Keith where is your backstory oh my god_
> 
> That being said, I think I covered everything important in the opening notes? I can answer any (actual) questions you guys have about the plot/characterization/anything here or on [Tumblr](http://melodiesofstrife.tumblr.com/), and I'm open to spoiling some things. Expect slowish updates - I have about six in-progress stories right now, and I don't want to rush things and half-ass this.


End file.
